I just got banned...by my professor

[Asher]

I got banned from a school-hosted message boards by my professor. This is a first.

He wants to see me tomorrow morning.

He's somewhat upset that I incited a virtual revolt against several TA's ineptitude and the lack of direction and instruction to prepare the class for the assignment. (And yes, I was non-offensive and polite in the post. It was deleted for being "off-topic", supposedly, but in reality it was to prevent the prof from looking stupid and prevent the people from replying to my post in agreement)

So he deleted all of the posts and banned the users.

I'm going to verbally *****slap him tomorrow. He's very much in the wrong here. It'll be exciting.

I'm going to be bringing my PDA to record this conversation just in case, because I have a feeling I may go to the dean to protest several changes he's made to the course this year. It may come in handy.

Long story short, this is the 2nd prof I've had that has been absolutely terrible in recent years. Both profs have their BSc and MSc from "third world" countries (one in Africa, one in Brazil) and got their PhDs from the University of Toronto. Both then worked for IBM at the IBM Toronto Software Lab (yes, where I worked for 16 months) before leaving the company under suspicious conditions (I know for a fact one of them was fired for incompetence, for lack of a better word, because she was on the same team I was on several years later).

Anyway. Interesting pattern. Massive stupidity.

Will let provide status updates in this thread, potentially with the recording of the argument as well. Stay tuned.

[SlowwHand]

Screwed the pooch, did ya? WTG.

[Asher]

Nonsense. This is the first class he's ever teaching, using an assignment structure and system that we've never used before, and he's ignoring the massive outcry from students about everything that is wrong with it.

He's failing over half the class as it is right now and the students are getting more and more frustrated and lost.

He's going to either change for the better or get a talking to by the dean.

This prof actually yelled at a student for having his cell phone ring in class (which is fine). A couple weeks later, his cell phone rang in class and he answered it, while teaching, to chat with his wife in Portugese...

[Urban Ranger]

You are wrong again, Asher.

The first and foremost responsibility of a professor is not to teach you undergrad weenies.

It is to publish.

Never heard of "publish or perish?"

[mrmitchell]

NERD FIGHT

[DRoseDARs]

Re: I just got banned...by my professor

Originally posted by Asher
I'm going to be bringing my PDA to record this conversation just in case, because I have a feeling I may go to the dean to protest several changes he's made to the course this year. It may come in handy.

Just make sure it is legal to do so and admissible as evidence in court where you live. Otherwise, you might find yourself in a world of more trouble than the inconvenience of being banned from a university forum by some asshat professor.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger
You are wrong again, Asher.

The first and foremost responsibility of a professor is not to teach you undergrad weenies.

It is to publish.

Never heard of "publish or perish?"

He's a assistant professor in his late 20s teaching for his first time, his primary responsibility is to teach us undergrad weenies. At least that's how it works at my school.

His research and publishing is done during the summer terms while working for IBM as part of their CAS (Centres for Advanced Studies) program.

You are wrong again, UR...

[Zkribbler]

Be prepared to go on the offensive. "How dare you trample on my free-speech rights?!! "

Think about dropping the Dean a helpful warning that there may be an undergraduate revolt because this prof's bizarre teaching methods have left half the class confused, frustrated and failing. Make the professor the problem :hate: not you

[Asher]

Re: Re: I just got banned...by my professor

Originally posted by DRoseDARs
Just make sure it is legal to do so and admissible as evidence in court where you live. Otherwise, you might find yourself in a world of more trouble than the inconvenience of being banned from a university forum by some asshat professor.

Is it really illegal to record a conversation taking place in public?

[Zkribbler]

Depends upon the jurisdiction. I know it's illegal to record a confidential communication, both in Florida and in California. I don't know about Toronto.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Be prepared to go on the offensive. "How dare you trample on my free-speech rights?!! "

Think about dropping the Dean a helpful warning that there may be an undergraduate revolt because this prof's bizarre teaching methods have left half the class confused, frustrated and failing. Make the professor the problem :hate: not you

I don't care about being censored, that's a moot point.

What I care about is the ridiculous assignments that are confusing, poorly explained, and not really relevant to the lecture material at all...coupled with TAs that don't speak English and can't explain anything to save their lives, and a prof repeatedly brushing off questions saying "ask your TAs..."

The icing on the cake is how the prof is brushing off all the complaints by saying "I told you to start early 3 weeks ago". He deleted my post which pointed out he didn't provide the code to form the basis of this assignment until last tuesday, after the 3rd time in 4 days I emailed him for it.

The cherry on top is banning users from using the discussion board to express their concern about the above.

[Pekka]

Seems odd they were named professors for your Uni to begin with. (degree from 3rd world country).

I suggest you take this another way. What do you gain if you slap him around verbally, excepet some enjoyment for yourself for a little while? That's ALL you can gain.

However, you should verbally beat him with the point you make, not take it to him in personal level. Be polite, but also let it be known you are not going to be a pushover. So you start politely (to make you a decent person, and get his attention more seriously) and then you attack him with your points (to make him know you are on top of things and they can't push you around in hopes of you not retaliating), and then back to being polite and offer the man an excuse to stand aside.

THIS is important. You see, I'm an expert of manipulating people face to face. So your strategy should be clear before you go there, and you want to corner the man but not be trashing him, he expects you to totally submit or be trash. So you come through the middle and don't give him the edge on that. And then, you offer him an excuse to drop it, so he takes it. It has to be subtle way out, so he sees it and takes it, not that you threaten him to take it. That's basic trapping and you should do trapping. Because you have nothing to gain by doing something else, yes?

REMEMBER MOST IMPORTANT THING IN MANIPULATION!! It's not important what you or he says. It's important how you make him feel his own situation and position. You want to make him think, and the best way to do this is letting him come to his own conclusion, the conclusion you want to drive. Thus you need to be subtle with the excuse he will have to take, other than that, polite, no pushover tactics.

This is how cold war was fought often times, and this is how **** gets done!

I'm afraid you feel the possibility of taking it to him and bringing the wrath, but that's only partial gain. If you succesfully drive this strategy I suggested, not only do you pwn him, he won't even lash back out to you (making it stronger pwnage) and he will be around when you need a favour. This is important. To have people who owe you a favour, if you should need one. It's a good policy..

[Asher]

Originally posted by Pekka
However, you should verbally beat him with the point you make, not take it to him in personal level. Be polite, but also let it be known you are not going to be a pushover. So you start politely (to make you a decent person, and get his attention more seriously) and then you attack him with your points (to make him know you are on top of things and they can't push you around in hopes of you not retaliating), and then back to being polite and offer the man an excuse to stand aside.

Of course, of course. I know better than to curse and throw a tantrum to make a point in person.

I've grown quite adept to dealing with stubborn people who believe there is nothing wrong over my 16 months at IBM, dealing with primadona coders from around the world insisting that the compiler is wrong, not their code. I'm completely comfortable with staying calm, rational, and polite, while simultaneously bringing up my points repeatedly.

[DRoseDARs]

Re: Re: Re: I just got banned...by my professor

Originally posted by Asher

Is it really illegal to record a conversation taking place in public?

Maybe, maybe not. That's why I said to check before you do. In Nevada, conversations recorded without consent from both parties are non-admissible in court; there are states where it is admissible as evidence.

[Pekka]

Right I wasn't even considering that, that you'd go there cursing and stuff.

I'm suggesting that you make him uncomfortable first because you have the bullets, but then, you don't fire a single round. Don't make him TOO uncomfortable. This way you can get his ass deeper and tighter. And warmer.